Sectional floating deck for oil tanks



June 19, 1928.

C. A. GLASS SECTIONAL FLOATING'DECK FOR OIL TANKS Filed July 5, 192

INVENLIOA' 1 67/f/ /7 /2 6/055. 5} a ATTbR/VEY H wq mmwmm mw n -1 Patented June 19, 1928.

uurrso STATE/S 1,674,039 PATENT OFFICE.

cannon A. GLASS, OI' KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

SICTIONAL FLOATING Application filed July 5,

This invention relates to floating roofs orv so as to close on communication between at inosphei'e end the oil and thereby prevent evaporation losses' Prior to my invention, moons has been provide for preventing the lighter volatile ends of the petroleum to be taken up by the sir ndinitted through the breather pipe in the root or the air which leeks through the root.

While prior devices solve the problem they ore unwieldly end costly. Dificulty is experienced in shipping the deck mechanism to the fields and erecting it. My invention reduces the erection diiliculties end fecilh' totes the shipping, since the miniature raft sections may be standardized es to shops and size and shipped into the hold in bundles or crates, and by making the raft sections oi uniform size end uniform shapes they can be pieced in the tank without necessity of nontchciin the sections and it? desired they can be tied together by unskilled labor so that when in piece, they will constitute a substantially rigid raft, whereas with all devices with which I am innpniinted considereble difficulty is encountered in erecting the rafts and in at least some instnncee skilled labor is required to sheet proper instnlletion.

e novel construction o l my invention will be understood by reference to the following description inconnection with the accompanying drewings, in which Fig, l is o sectional perspective view or o tank to which my invention is applied.)

l ig, Q is a fragmentary perspective view showing e plurelity of roll; sections tied together a Fig. 3 is n perspective sectional view of it slightly modified form of: section,

Fig; it is e lilrc view of it further modified :lornn Fig. h is e eirniler view or? turther modi hed iorm end 0 e is as sectional view through it still i form oil refit section.

The tank l is illustrated on conforming to the oonventionel type of oil tcnks. lit is shown no provided with root 2, o gouge DECK FOR OIL TANKS.

1924. term! No. 724,214

hole 3; a breather pipe l, at central roof polo 5, a swing pipe 6 and a cable '2 to operate H115 swing pipe. All this construct on is o The preferred form of the refit section is illustrated in Fig. 2 as comprising an in verted pen 8, having o continuous flange 9 depending from the perimeter of the to 10, the flanges being submergible in the oil so as to trap air or gaseous vapor in the space 11 between the surface 12 of the'oil' and the top 10 ot the j pan so that the top of the pen is slightly above the surface of the oil. 'l he pens are preferably rectongnlor and they may be provided with tying members 13 near their respective corners to tie the pens to the rods 14: and 15 which one arranged to form :1 frame constituting at substantially rectengulor perellelogram, so as to connect the sections together to form a substentiollyunitory structure. Of course sections may be omitted for the pole 5 and to provide as; space tor the swing pipe 6 end below the gauge hatch for senipling the oil.

Since the sections are substentially rectangulsr, it is obvious that there will be small segmental spnces 16 about the periphcry of the raft. 'lhese combined spaces will constitute a relatively small per cent of the total ores of the refit sowhilethcre may be some slight evaporation losses, they will not beeppreciable, but it is obvious that for these speces I may arrange special raft sections to cover the spaces-but it is believed that ordinarily these will not-be necessoryi c It will be opponent that the pens in y he inexpensively formed oi sheet metal or epproprinte gouge in it very inexpensive men ner end thot the sections noey he nested tor shipping so that they will occupy a relatively smell specs. I prefer 1m slightly curve the tops 10 to increase the splices ll over whet they would be it the tops were parallel with the surinoe oii'the oil but do not wish to be limited to this pnrticulor structure.

in Fig, 3 l hove shown n slightly m fied form or roiit section or unit in which the inverted on 1'? conforms generically to the comtruction shown in Fig. 2 except that it hos o lower perellel well or bottom I? to provide on enclosed space 18 so that the unit will he huoyent under ell conditions.

In Fig. l l hoveshown o l'fnrther 1m fied form in which the units 19 conforms genericnlly to the construction shown in 2 except on it is inverted that the if;

is inverted as compared with the wall 10. The upturned flanges 21 in the form shown in Fig. 4 are rovided with a cover 22.

In Fig. 5 have shown a further modified form in which a substantially rectangular frame 23 is rovided of wood or similar material with fa ric covering 24.

In Fig. 6 the construction is shown as conforming generically to the form shown in Fig. 2, that is the member 25 is substantially like the member 18 with an inverted pan 26 fastened thereto at 27 and of smaller cross section so as to provide a space 28. In all of the forms however there is a curved wall above the oil level to provide a vapor space and by vapor I comprehend either air or hydrocarbon gas.

It will be apparent from the foregoin that the sections or units may be complete at the plant or factory and shipped in crates or bundles into the held where they can be conveniently set up without the employment of special tools or the necessity of skilled labor.

It is also an important feature of my invention that the dead air spaces in the hollow pans and the vapor spaces 11 have considerable value as heat insulators so that the surface of the oil will be at a lower temperature under the pans than where floating decks are used in which the fiat portion of v the deck rests upon the oil.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is 1. In a floating deck for oil tanks, a plurality of hollow units arranged edge to edge, intersecting tie rods across the tops of the units, and tie members securing the units to the rods.

2. In a floating deck for oil tanks, a plurality of hollow units arranged edge to edge, intersecting tie rods across the tops of the units, and tie members flexibly securing the units to the rods.

3. A sectional deck for tanks, comprising a pluralit of units arranged edge to edge, and tie ro s above the units, the tie rods consisting of two sets of parallel rods, one set of parallel rods intersecting the other, each rod extending over a pluralit of the units.

4. A sectional deck for tan comprising a plurality of units arranged edge to edge, and tie rods above the units, the tie rods consisting of two sets of parallel rods, one set of C1parallel rods intersectin the other, each ro extending over a plum ity of the units, there being a space between certain of the units to rovide an opening for a swing pipe.

5. A oating deck membenfor oil tanks, comprising a sheet having a downturned flange and a complementary member comprising a sheet having an upturned flange secured to the under side of the first named sheet and having its upturned flange. in spaced relation with the flange of the first named sheet.

6. In a floating deck for oil tanks, an o framework comprisin Y intersectin e ongated members secured together an a plu rality of floating units engaging said framework to com rise a unit.

7. In a oating deck for oil tanks, an open framework, a plurality of floating units engaging said framework and means for securing the members of said framework together and said units to said framework to constitute a unit.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

CLIFTON A. GLASS. 

